National media bury Wisconsin story backing up charges that Bush has politicized U.S. attorney offices

An April 11 article in The Washington Post on the House Judiciary Committee's decision to subpoena hundreds of Justice Department documents related to the U.S. attorney firings noted that Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) has "joined other members in demanding records and additional information about a federal public corruption case" in Wisconsin. Regarding the case, the Post reported only that a federal appeals court in Chicago ordered a former state employee to be "released after overturning her conviction." The article did not report that Georgia Thompson -- who was not identified by name -- was convicted on charges brought by a Bush-appointed U.S. attorney just before the 2006 election, that Wisconsin Republicans used her conviction to attack Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) during the campaign, that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit took the highly unusual action of ordering the defendant released during oral argument because of the lack of evidence to support the conviction, and that Feingold and five other senators have requested information about the case to investigate whether "politics may have played an inappropriate role" in the prosecution.

An April 11 Los Angeles Times article reported that the senators were looking to see if "politics may have played an inappropriate role" in the case, but also left out the fact that Republicans had used Thompson's conviction to attack Doyle.

Several other national media outlets have ignored the Thompson case altogether, despite its relevance to congressional allegations that the Bush administration has attempted to use the U.S. attorney function for political and electoral advantage. A Media Matters for America review* found that USA Today and The Wall Street Journal have not covered the story, nor have the national network broadcast news programs on CBS, NBC, and ABC. As Media Matters has previously noted, the broadcast networks' evening news programs -- ABC's World News with Charles Gibson, the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, and NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams -- were all slow to report on the U.S. attorney scandal.

On April 5, Thompson was released from prison after a federal appeals court overturned her conviction on corruption charges brought by Bush-appointed U.S. attorney Steven Biskupic. The Associated Press reported that Thompson was convicted of "steering a contract in 2005 to book state travel to Adelman Travel Group, a company whose chief executive donated to the re-election campaign of Gov. Jim Doyle," and added that these charges were cited by Republicans "in television ads" during the governor's race "to question the ethics of Doyle." The appeals court took the extraordinary step of ordering Thompson released immediately after hearing oral argument in the case, with one of the appeals court judges commenting that Biskupic's "evidence is beyond thin."

Democrats have called for investigations into Thompson's prosecution and have connected the case to the ongoing investigation of the Bush administration's dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys. Following the appellate court's order, several senators -- including Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) -- have sought to investigate the proceedings in Wisconsin, and all have signed a letter to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales seeking answers:

We are concerned whether or not politics may have played a role in a case brought by Stephen Biskupic, the United States Attorney based in Milwaukee, against Georgia Thompson, formerly an official in the administration of Wisconsin's Democratic governor. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals was reportedly so troubled by the insufficiency of the evidence against Ms. Thompson that it made the unusual decision to issue an order reversing Ms. Thompson's conviction and releasing her from custody immediately after oral arguments in her appeal.

An April 9 editorial in The New York Times also questioned Thompson's conviction and further likened the events to the U.S. attorney scandal: "As Congress investigates the politicization of the United States attorney offices by the Bush administration, it should review the extraordinary events the other day in a federal courtroom in Wisconsin," adding, "It just might shed some light on a question that lurks behind the firing of eight top federal prosecutors: what did the surviving attorneys do to escape the axe?"

Yet, in reporting on the senators' request, neither the Post nor the Los Angeles Times detailed the possible political motivations at play in Thompson's prosecution. Also, despite the relevance to Congress' current investigation into the U.S. attorney firings, most of the national media have completely ignored the story. A Media Matters review has found that aside from The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, the only national coverage has been provided by The New York Times and the Associated Press:

• The AP first noted the federal court's decision to overturn Thompson's conviction in an April 5 report. The report noted that "Republicans repeatedly cited the case in television ads and on the campaign trail to question Doyle's ethics during last fall's campaign in which he defeated Republican Mark Green."
• An April 6 AP article detailed Democratic concerns about Thompson's trial. According to the AP, "Some Democrats said Friday the acquittal of a former state worker on fraud charges raises questions about whether a U.S. attorney's investigation was a political attempt to tarnish Gov. Jim Doyle. ... From the beginning, many Democrats wondered whether U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic, a Bush appointee, pursued the case against Georgia Thompson to go after Doyle, a Democrat who was in a tight race for re-election in this swing state." The article noted that Wisconsin "State Democratic Party Chairman Joe Wineke said recent revelations about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys for what Democrats have called political reasons means 'there's a cloud over all of these things,' " and that "Doyle was one of several Democratic governors targeted by Republicans who saw him as vulnerable, but he ended up defeating U.S. Rep. Mark Green in November.'"
• A separate April 6 AP article reported on Thompson's release from prison and Doyle's promise that Thompson would "be entitled to her job back with the Department of Administration if she wants it and potentially legal fees and back pay."
• An April 10 AP article cited Rep. Tammy Baldwin's (D-WI) call for "Congress to investigate the prosecution of former state worker Georgia Thompson" and reported that Baldwin tied Thompson's prosecution to the U.S. attorney scandal currently being investigated by Congress. The article also reported that "Andy Gussert, president of AFT-Wisconsin, a union that represents state employees, also called... for congressional committees to look into the case. He said public servants should 'not become political footballs to be kicked around. ... This prosecution raises additional questions that resonate with concerns about the recent firings of U.S. attorneys. ... If people are to have faith in our judicial system, those questions will need answers.' "
• An April 11 AP report on the House Judiciary Committee's decision to subpoena documents related to the U.S. attorney scandal noted that the Senate Judiciary Committee "also asked Gonzales for documents on a prosecution in Wisconsin that was overturned by a federal appeals court for lack of evidence. The defendant, state worker Georgia Thompson, had been accused of bid-rigging by favoring a company with ties to Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle. Leahy and five other Democratic senators said they were concerned whether politics played a role in the case."
• Similarly, an April 11 New York Times article on the subpoena request noted, "In a separate development, Senate Democrats asked Mr. Gonzales to turn over documents related to a prosecution of a state contracting official in Wisconsin." The Times reported that Thompson "was convicted" of "corruption charges brought by Steven Biskupic," but "last week, after an appeals court heard oral arguments, a federal appeals court took the unusual step of ordering Ms. Thompson's immediate release from prison." The article added: "The senators sought all documents at the Justice Department in connection with the case, which was the subject of intense political advertising last fall against Gov. James E. Doyle, a Democrat."

* A Nexis search of The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, and the Los Angeles Times, and NBC News, ABC News, and CBS News transcripts for terms "(Wisconsin w/50 state employee) or (Georgia w/5 Thompson) and (appeal w/5 court)" yielded these results. In addition, a Factiva search of The Wall Street Journal for terms "(Wisconsin w/50 state employee) or (Georgia w/5 Thompson) and (appeal w/5 court)" contributed to these results.